Friday, 17 August 2018

Fruit...indoors

August is the start of the harvest season that all growers lover. An abundance of produce on the farm is what all the hard work culminates in, and that's a real joy. We've got a good range of veg at the moment, but it's the fruit that really feels like the icing on the cake.However it's not perhaps the classic English summer fruits that are in abundance at Scilly Organics at the moment, but some more heat loving crops that are. It's the polytunnels that are the source of sweetness and joy right now with an abundance of grapes and peaches!

There are just two peach trees fruiting, but hundreds of peaches all together. They are very nearly fully ripe with good skin quality. Pests and diseases don't seem to be a problem, the trees savouring the heat of the tunnel but have their roots outside lapping up moisture from the recent rains.

Meanwhile in the other tunnel the grapes are as good as ever, if not better. The heat in June and July certainly hasn't stunted them, if anything increased their growth. We hack back vast amounts of foliage during the growing season! again their roots are well down, outside the confines of the tunnel, pumping out vast quantities of water every day leading to a humid and cooler atmosphere in the tunnel.These white grapes are Lakemont and taste delicious. Seedless, sweet and tasty, they are reliably good cropping, free of disease and the only pests are...blackbirds and thrushes. Entirely understandable that they want to gorge themselves on grapes! Our netting seems to be keeping most of them at bay...

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About Me

Jonathan set up Scilly Organics 15 years ago. The first certified organic holding on Scilly, we grow fruit, veg and herbs that are sold locally on about 5 acres of land around Middle Town on St Martin's.